Tracing a Pattern
by Dilandau2
Summary: A series about Yuno in the 1st world, which traces her life before the survival game and also her developing feelings for Yuki.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This follows the Yuno of the 1st world. I'll try to keep my drabbles in chronological order.

Sometimes Yuno wished she was allowed to be like other girls.

The rest of the class was taking a test, but Yuno had finished 10 minutes earlier. All there was to do now was to wait. As she sat there, her gaze drifted around the room and took in her surroundings. A girl next to her was double checking her answers, and another student looked like he was just barely staying awake. Her eyes settled on a boy sitting in the corner, who was tapping his pencil to his lips and looking a little distressed. The two of them had been in the same class together ever since elementary school. What was his name again? She couldn't believe that she didn't know it after all this time. A…A something. Amano, was it? Amano-kun? He was kind of cute. Her type – or he would be her type, if she was allowed to have a type. Dark hair, blue eyes…he was shy and he seemed nice, even if Yuno hadn't spoken to him very much in all their years together.

"I have no time for boys…" Yuno reminded herself. "Mama would kill me."

All those rules, all those sheets of paper that charted her grades, her caloric intake, the amount of time she spent out of the house…when she thought about it all, she felt like she couldn't breathe. It was too much pressure. Her parents expected so much from her, and they were unforgiving if she didn't meet their expectations.

"Don't think about it…don't think about it…" She tried to calm herself down by focusing on something else. If she thought about it too long, she felt like she might snap.

That night, when Yuno was locked in her cage for some minor infraction, and her mother finally stopped yelling at her and left her alone, she leaned against the bars, closed her eyes, and imagined going on a date like a normal girl. The boy in her thoughts looked a little like Amano-kun.


	2. Chapter 2

Warning: This chapter deals with child abuse.

Yuno knew she would die soon if something didn't change. She didn't know how much more she could take. Every day she felt as though she was slowly losing her will to live; how much longer could she hold on? How much longer did she even want to hold on? All her life brought her was suffering.

Mama was locking her in her cage more often than ever before. She let her out to go to school, but sometimes during the weekend she would shut Yuno in and she wouldn't come to check up on her daughter until it was time for class again. If Papa came home, he would yell at his wife to let Yuno out and she would get a brief reprieve, but he was so busy with work…he hardly ever came home anymore. Didn't either of them understand how she felt?

Yuno wasn't sure how long she had been in the cage this time – Mama had turned off the lights and shut the shades, so she didn't know the passage of time. She had been locked in on Thursday afternoon after school, and her school wasn't in session on Friday…it was likely that she had been in the cage for at least three days. Mama came in to bring Yuno a large bottle of water once, and that had been the last she had seen of her. No food… she had tried to eat the tatami mats as she sometimes did if she was desperate, but all it did was make her stomach hurt.

"Your life would be so much easier if that woman was gone…" A voice murmured to her. Yuno was lying down as best she could on her back, staring up at the cage ceiling. There were shadows swirling around in strange shapes above her – from the looks of it, one of the shadows was the source of the voice. Yuno shook her head. "No…no…Mama's just depressed… she's a good person…she just needs help. Papa would be so sad if she was gone."

"Like Papa cares about you or her…" She muttered to herself, deliriously. But to her, it appeared as though it was the shadow once again speaking. "…I'm sure he's just busy…just busy…" Yuno replied to herself and closed her eyes, trying to shut the shadow out.

"Come on Yuno, you've been through this before. You can handle it. I'm sure Mama will let you out soon…" She rolled over onto her side, clenched her arm over her stomach and curled her legs up. Her new position helped to ease the hunger pain somewhat. "Just imagine you're somewhere else. It will be okay."

Yuno tried to imagine happier times. Times when her family had taken vacations together, or when her dad worked less, or when she actually saw her mom smile and laugh. Usually these memories worked; sometimes if she was lucky, she could create an out of body experience for herself to get away from it all. But for some reason today, she just couldn't seem to escape from herself. Was it that shadow keeping her confined? She cracked one eye open to look and then quickly snapped it shut – sure enough, it was still looming above her.

"Please…won't someone help me?" She wondered to herself…then laughed out loud weakly. The tremors caused her to ache all over, but it was just so funny that she couldn't help but laugh. Who would help her? Who even cared about her?

Mercifully, as if someone heard her plea, she lost consciousness shortly after.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mama, Papa, don't worry...Yuno will make us all a family again soon!" A broad smile stretched across the young girl's face as she slipped into a daydream. Yuno was in a better mood than usual, ever since she came up with a plan to mend her broken family. It had to work. She was banking everything on it.

"I can't go back to that place again..." Despite her good mood, she began to tremble when the thought crossed her mind. The cage had always been a horrible place for her, but after the last time...she didn't think she could handle going back in again. She had never been so close to dying before, and it terrified her. Yuno was trying harder than ever to be good, no…not just good, perfect, until she could enact her plan. So far it was working; her mother hadn't had a reason to punish her for three days straight.

"Papa's coming home today, so I have to do it tonight..."

"No one else will help me, so it has to be this way. I have no choice. I have to save my family myself."

Yuno would finally show Mama and Papa how she felt. How terrible her treatment was, how it felt to be locked away and abandoned. The toll it took on her because she felt so scared to even make one mistake, because one mistake meant she would be punished harshly. Her parents weren't bad people - she was sure that once Mama saw how much she had made her suffer, she would apologize to Yuno and stop punishing her like that. And Papa would see how much his family needed him, so he would come back home more often. Yes, it was a perfect plan, and she was so excited to have a fresh start with her parents.

"And you're the magic potion that will make this all possible~" Yuno giggled to herself and looked down fondly at the bottle of sleeping pills which she had swiped from her mother's nightstand.


	4. Chapter 4

"Yuno, what are you doing?!" Spat her mother, once she woke up and was coherent enough to realize what was happening. She crawled over to the bars of the cage and glared at the girl.

"Ah! You're awake!" Yuno had been huddled in the corner, reading a book and waiting for her parents to finally wake up. She beamed at her mother and stood up, approaching the front of the cage. She could see that her father was awake too, looking a bit dazed. That was good! The sooner they got this whole thing behind them, the sooner they would become the parents she once knew again.

"Mama, Papa…I'm sorry I had to do this to you." She began, looking down at the floor shyly. Yuno had planned out a whole little speech for herself. "But…I can't deal with the way you treat me anymore. It's like the two of you don't even understand how I feel. Mama, you lock me up for days without food or water. I nearly died last time! And Papa, you tell her not to do that…but you leave for so long! I hardly see you anymore. Mama is so depressed without you, and she takes it out on me. "

"All these numbers and these charts need to stop." She continued. "And no more cage. I want to eat decent meals like everyone else, too. And I want to stay out later, after school with my friends. I want to date boys. …I just want to be normal." Yuno finally finished. She looked up from the ground, waiting for their reply.

The only reaction she got was them shaking the bars.

"Yuno, let us out!" Her dad yelled. She had never heard him sound like that before, except for when he came home from his trips and yelled at Mama.

"What are you doing?!" Her mother repeated, her voice's pitch rising. "Do you have any idea what you're doing?!"

Yuno was a little confused. Had they not heard what she had to say? She stared at them.

"Ugh, let us out now!"

Yuno shook her head. "Once you realize what you've put me through and apologize, I'll let you go…" She was sure that her parents would apologize any moment now.

"You horrible child!" Her mother finally screamed at her, once she saw the girl wasn't going to open the cage. Yuno's whole body tensed in shock. "You terrible, ungrateful monster!"

"…Huh?" Yuno tilted her head. She didn't understand. This wasn't the response she had expected at all. She thought for sure that once they had a taste of what she had been through, even just a few minutes, they would understand.

"You're not my daughter! I wish I had never brought you home!"

Yuno's eyes widened at the cruel remark. She turned around and fled from the room, closing the door behind her.

…What had gone wrong? Yuno wasn't sure why they had reacted that way, but it scared her. Her knees felt wobbly and she slid down the wall to the floor in the hallway. She hugged her legs to herself. From the room, she could hear her parents arguing.

"..This is your fault! I told you not to lock her away and now look what happened!"

"You have no right to tell me how to raise a child when you're never here!"

"Ah…at least Mama and Papa are talking now." Yuno closed her eyes. At least that was a start. "I'll go check on them tomorrow. They're probably just mad right now… once they calm down it will be all right."

A/N: I wasn't really happy with this chapter, that's why it took me a while to publish it. I hope you like it anyway!


	5. Chapter 5

Tomorrow never came. Yuno was terrified to go check up on her parents. When they weren't silent, she could hear them arguing fiercely and it made her nervous. One time when it was quiet, she had gone to open the door, only to immediately be assaulted by a string of curses. She had hurriedly shut the door and moved away from the room. Another time she had managed to slip them a tray of food when they were both sleeping, but it just involved her sliding the tray at the cage from a partially cracked door – she didn't want to face them.

Yuno was honestly at a loss as of what to do. She couldn't let them out, even though she wanted to. Her parents had never been this mad before. If her mom punished her so badly for things like missing curfew or talking back, what would she do to her for something like this? And now even Papa was angry at her and thought she was a bad girl. He wouldn't defend her this time. Yuno's small form began to tremble as she thought of the worst case scenario. Her whole plan had hinged on the fact that they would apologize to her – she hadn't expected them to stay mad at her and she hadn't planned ahead for that.

Yuno tried to open the door once more, but she lost her nerve when she heard a shout of "Yuno!" from the other side.

After that, it was a few days until she tried again. Everything was silent and had been for a while now. Maybe even a whole day. Come to think of it, how long had it been since she slid that tray of food in? She was so worried about her situation that she had lost track of time. Her parents would need food again soon. She was dreading it, but maybe now that they were a bit weakened, she could reason with them without them screaming at her. So she steeled her nerves, prepared a tray of food, and cautiously opened the door.

Mama and Papa were lying on the ground, sleeping. She smiled a little. They looked peaceful, at least. She crouched down beside the cage and set the food down.

"Wake up…I brought something to eat." Neither one budged. She gently reached out and shook her dad's arm, but quickly pulled her hand away. It was cold and felt funny. She touched her mom's arm and it felt the same way. Now that she looked closely, Mama's eyes weren't closed. That was odd; she was sleeping with her eyes open?

A funny wave of panic started setting in, though she wasn't sure why. "Mom, Dad, wake up…you two need to eat something! Get up!" She said, a little more urgently than before. Yuno shook the cage, but still no response.

"They must be exhausted if they're sleeping so soundly…" She tried to convince herself and laughed a little to herself, though nothing was funny. "I'll leave the tray and let them rest." There was something unsettling about the still way they were laying there, though. They didn't even look like they were breathing. Her mom's glassy eyes seemed to stare right at her.

"They aren't sleeping." Yuno stared back at her mother's lifeless gaze. "They aren't sleeping…oh god…" She began to repeat to herself as the ugly truth set in. It was too much for her. Yuno leaned against the wall to support herself, feeling dizzy.

"They're not sleeping. They're de-" Yuno's mind suddenly blanked out before she could finish the thought.

…What had she just been thinking about? As she turned around and quickly walked away from the room, she tried to remember.

A/N: Yep, this is the first time Yuno deals with her memory problem in the story, though she's probably had problems before, when her abuse became too much. Two more chapters of this and then I promise I'll get to some Yuki/Yuno stuff! Sorry that it's taking so long, but I think Yuno's relationship and past with her parents is a really important part of her character, and one that gets brushed over a lot. So I hope you all don't mind that I'm taking some time with it.


	6. Chapter 6

It was about a month before Yuno's mind came to accept what she had done. She couldn't hide from it forever, not when she came home to her parents' bodies every day. Eventually she had no choice but to let it sink in, as much as she tried to reject it.

She had to make up lies about their whereabouts. She told their company that they had gone on a trip and she wasn't sure when they would be back. It was only a matter of time before they realized that their two CEOs had gone missing, of course.

The power had been cut today. The water was still running, but she had received a disconnection notice in the mail. Yuno simply could not afford to pay the bills – she didn't have access to her parent's money in the bank. She was only grateful that the house was already paid off, or else they'd be after her to kick her out, and then they would see…

Yuno huddled in the corner of the room with her parents bodies, like she did every day after school. The smell was horrible, but she was beyond caring. She stared ahead at the two of them without really seeing them.

"Mama, Papa, I'm scared…" By now she was well aware that they would never answer her. Still, it was comforting in a way. "What am I going to do?"

It was really only a matter of time before someone came over to the house to investigate their mysterious disappearance. And then what? They would see the bodies. They would know what Yuno did. They would lock her away again, in another cage, for the rest of her life. She couldn't go back into another cage. She couldn't be locked away again. All she had wanted was to be normal, but even though her parents were gone, it was still impossible for her.

She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face against her knees. What _was_ she going to do? Yuno couldn't run away, she had nowhere to go. She couldn't help but feel like it would be better off if she just died – then she would finally be free. No one could lock her away if she was dead, after all. But even thinking about dying… she remembered how miserable she had felt, when she was near death from starvation. Yuno didn't want to die. Killing herself wasn't an option; the thought of dying frightened her too much, even if the alternate was worse.

So she was stuck. There was nothing she could do. Her situation was hopeless. Yuno was trapped with no way out. She still went through the daily motions – wake up, go to school, feed herself - but they were meaningless now. She had nothing to live for. There was no future for her.


	7. Chapter 7

_What do you want to do with your future?_

Yuno stared down at the piece of paper that the teacher had just handed out. It was Yuno's last year of middle school and the teachers were pushing all their classes to get serious about their schoolwork and start thinking ahead to their futures. It wouldn't be long before high school started.

"Be sure you turn it in before you go home today."

'Future? What should I write…?' For Yuno, the question may as well have been an unsolvable equation. 'There's nothing I could write that would come true.'

The harder she thought about it, the wider the mental chasm stretched before her. All around her, the other students were diligently working on their own papers. No one knew her plight. No one knew what she had done, and that she no longer had anything to live for. She had never felt as alone as she did now, surrounded by other students, each of them with a parent and a life and a future to go home to. In her mind's eyes, she could see her own parents back at home; her mom's pretty face rotting away, her dad's eyes staring unseeingly ahead. It made her sick. She had to stifle a whimper - if she wasn't in the middle of class, she would have found somewhere to curl up in a ball and started to cry.

'That's what I should write. I started to cry and didn't stop until I was dead – that's my future.' Yuno still didn't want to die, but she was rapidly losing her will to go on. She was a monster – what kind of daughter killed her own parents? They had given her a chance by adopting her, and that's how she had repaid them.

'I deserve to die…'

Before she knew it, class was over and she still didn't have anything written down. The other students had already packed up and left. For the first time since it had been passed out, Yuno looked up from her paper and realized she had taken too long to write something down. Even the teacher was gone.

But she wasn't alone in the room. Another student was still in class. It was that boy who she had once thought was cute long ago. …Or was it long ago? At most, it could have only been two months ago, but it felt like a hundred years had passed between then and now. It was almost like someone else had had those thoughts. Yuno felt like she had been a different girl back then.

She couldn't see his expression from where he was sitting, but she could tell he was staring down at the paper on his desk. Someone was having trouble imagining their future besides her? Yuno was surprised. What could be giving him so much trouble?

Curious, and desperately wanting to take her mind off of her own bleak future, she stood up from her desk and walked over to him.

'Stop…what are you doing? What are you going to say to him?'

"What's the matter?" Yuno asked him, approaching his desk. "You don't know what to write either?" For some reason, just knowing that someone else was having difficulties thinking of something made her feel slightly better. She wasn't so alone after all. He looked up at her and she leaned over to look at his paper.

"I want to go see the stars with my family." She read out loud. So, he had written something down. She was a bit disappointed; he wasn't like her after all . Then what was the problem?

"My parents got a divorce last week." The boy, Amano, said. "I bought a telescope so we could all see the stars together, but now it won't happen. …It's stupid, right?" He laughed a little and looked up at her again. Despite her own problems, she felt sorry for him. He sounded so sad. "I'm going to erase it…" He began to rub the eraser against his writing, but she reached out and put her hand over his to stop him.

"It's not stupid." Yuno could understand why it was so important to him. Family was important. How many times had she wished that her own family could be like they were when she first came to live with them? When they went on family trips and had fun together? Too many times to count. So, she could understand why he would be upset that his family would never be whole again.

"It is!" He insisted. "I have to show it to the teacher!"

"…Why don't we see the stars together, then?" It would give her something to do. Yuno could get out of the house for a change. "There's an observatory nearby." It could almost be like…a date. "Isn't that a great idea?" She asked a note of desperation in her voice.

"No, uh…I wanted to go with my family…" And just like that, her suggestion was shot down. She sighed. It was hard to contain her disappointment.

"Geez, you're so stubborn." But Yuno was enjoying her conversation with him. It had been so long since she had just spoken with another person, outside of occasional words she said to teachers and other students. In these past weeks, she had been living in a world of her own. And thinking back on it, even before the incident with her parents, she had never had much of a social life with other students. She already felt closer to this boy than she had to anyone in a long time. If her circumstances were different, she could have seen herself falling for him.

"How about this?" She took his pencil from him and began to write on his paper.

"I'll become your bride in the future." Yuno wrote down and read out loud at the same time. She wasn't sure what possessed her to write it. It wasn't like her to be so impulsive at all.

'I could see myself with him. We could be together. It would be nice to have someone to love…' For the first time, she could imagine a future for herself; a future where she was someone's wife. But it was such a long shot, and she prepared for the inevitable rejection.

To her surprise, he just smiled a little. "When we grow up…" He replied gently.

'I-is he serious?' Yuno stared at him, in shock. He had actually… agreed? Honestly, she had expected him to laugh it off even though she had been serious. This was so unexpected. She could feel a blush growing on her face. Her heart was racing. For the first time in a long time, she smiled.

"Okay!"

She had a future again.

A/N: This was a very hard chapter for me to write, and I hope I did it justice. I wanted to convey how isolated Yuno felt and how desperate she was to connect with anyone at all. She's seriously starved for kindness right now, and Yuki was the first person who was nice to her or who talked to her in quite a long time. So she latched onto him. I'm not 100% happy with how it turned out though. I hope you still enjoy it anyway!


	8. Chapter 8

Amano-kun. Amano-kun. Amano-kun.

A few days had passed, and that boy had become her only thought. The conversation she had with him was the one good thing that had happened to her in such a long time, and she couldn't stop thinking about it or about him. Gone were the days when Yuno would sit at home with her parents, feeling sorry for herself and waiting to be caught by the police. Every time a negative thought would even begin to form, she would squash it.

"No! I have someone to live for now. I can't disappoint Amano-kun when we finally grow up…" Yuno had to be available so that she could marry him, like she had told him.

It was all she had to cling to - that future, which seemed terribly far away. But it was her's.

"Amano-kun…" She breathed his name to herself and then giggled. She was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Some day that will be my name too. 'This is my wife, Amano Yuno.' " The little practice introduction sounded like music to Yuno's ears, and she almost wished that she could change her name already.

"Oh, but I can't just start calling myself that. It would scare him off." She thought sadly. But she could wait.

As it turned out, trying not to scare Amano-kun off posed a big problem for Yuno. She was terrified of scaring him. She was a girl who had killed her own parents, after all. What would he think of her if he knew? There was no way she could let him find out.

Besides that though, Amano-kun was such a naturally shy boy. Yuno was nervous she would say the wrong thing to him – she wasn't very good at socializing. What if she said something to upset him and Amano-kun took back his promise? She didn't think she could handle it, if he took that away from her.

That was why, the next day when she waited for him in the hallway after school so they could walk home together, she could only muster up a meek, barely whispered "Amano-kun…" to get his attention as he passed her by without even glancing up from his phone. He hadn't heard her at all, and she actually felt a little relieved he hadn't.

'This is silly. I should be able to talk to him. I know he won't be cruel to me or take back his promise, he's not like that…' Yuno thought as she followed him out the door. And yet, while she knew it was true, she still couldn't bring herself to call out to him again. Where was that bravery she had found the other day when they were both in the classroom together?

'It was because I had nothing to lose back then. But now I have to protect our relationship until we grow up. ' Yuno rationalized, watching Amano-kun head down the sidewalk towards his home. She waited a few moments until he was far ahead of her, and then followed down the same path. She wasn't even sure why, she just wanted to watch him for a while.

'I'll talk to him when I have more to say to him. For now, maybe it's better this way. I'll just keep an eye on him from a distance.'

Once Amano-kun had arrived home, and Yuno was back in her own home, she fished her phone from out of her pocket and sat down on her bed.

"I watched Amano-kun walk home today!" She typed on the tiny keypad. After her first conversation with Amano-kun, Yuno had started up a little diary of sorts about him on her phone. "The sun was just starting to set while we were walking, and it made him look so cool! I already can't wait to see him tomorrow!"

Yuno flopped onto her back on the bed and hugged the phone to her chest. She wondered what he was doing right now. He was probably settling down to dinner with his mom, laughing and chatting about the day's events at school.

A little bit of loneliness crept into her mind, imagining Amano-kun with his mother while Yuno sat alone in her empty house.

'One day, I'll be the one having dinner with him.' That thought gave her comfort, and she smiled. Until then, she would just have to be patient.

A/N: And thus, Yuno takes her first baby steps into the wonderful world of stalking. Aww. I'm pretty happy with this chapter! It turned out exactly how I wanted it. I hope you like it!


	9. Chapter 9

Camera? Check.

Binoculars? Check.

Picnic basket? Check.

Sleeping bag? Check.

Despite the fact that she had kept herself preoccupied with other thoughts for the past month, she had vivid dreams about her parents almost every night. It almost felt like they were haunting her; she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. So tonight she was going to take her mind off it all – she was going to have a sleep over with Amano-kun!

…It was just a shame that Yuno couldn't get closer to his house without risking him noticing. If she could, she would have slept right out in his yard, but there wasn't really anywhere to hide. For a while, she had considered sneaking into his house and hiding, but she had lost her nerve – if he discovered her, it would all be over. Luckily, when she was scoping out his house a few days earlier, it turned out there was a house across from his that provided an excellent view of his house and his windows and had plenty of bushes to hide in. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Ahh… I wonder if I'll catch a glimpse of him in his PJs…" She smiled at the thought as she finished packing – she could just imagine how cute he would look in the morning in his pajamas, with his hair all messed up, blinking sleep from his eyes.

'I just hope the zoom on my camera is good enough…' She thought to herself as she headed out the door. If she witnessed an adorable moment like that, she definitely wanted to capture it!

It wasn't too much longer before Yuno had made herself comfortable in the neighbor's bushes, zipped up to her waist in the sleeping bag. Or rather, as comfortable as she could get – there were some twigs digging into her skin and every time she moved a small branch hit her in the face. She had made sure it was dark out before she set up camp – she didn't want the home owners to spot her and ask what she was doing. It was a warm night out, and the stars were just starting to make their appearance in the sky. She pointed her binoculars up at them.

"Amano-kun, the stars look so pretty out tonight, though I can't see them very well from here. One day we'll watch them together, like I said." Yuno let out a wistful sigh. And yet, despite her promise, she still hadn't worked up the courage to speak to him since that day.

She brought her binoculars back down for a closer target, the back door of Amano-kun's house. The lights were on, and after about fifteen frustrating minutes where she didn't see anything, she saw him enter his kitchen. "There he is!" She murmured to herself excitedly. He got a plate of something from the fridge and after microwaving it, sat down at the kitchen table to eat. It was something completely mundane and yet Yuno's heart was pounding. Without looking away, Yuno used her free hand to reach down into her picnic basket and brought out one of her sandwiches. She nibbled at it, still fixated on him. This way it could feel like they were eating together.

'I wonder where his mom is?' Strange, she expected them to be eating together. But Amano-kun was all alone. When he was done, he put his dish in the sink and headed out of the room. A minute later she saw the upstairs lights go on.

…Which posed a problem for her – she couldn't see up there unless Amano was right by the window. She pouted – after she had put so much effort into tonight, a silly thing like going upstairs thwarted her. If that was the case, she figured she might as well go home.

She was debating whether or not to leave, when she couldn't help but focus on a tree in Amano-kun's yard. Hmm… did she dare? Yuno glanced nervously from the tree to the window and back again. She wasn't even sure if the risk would pay off, it might not be his bedroom window. But she didn't want to go home either.

"I can't just give up without a fight! Hold on, Amano-kun, I'm coming!" The camera she was holding got stuffed into her pocket, and she hung the binoculars around her neck. She left the sleeping bag and basket in the bushes; she would come back for them later. Cautiously, Yuno crept into her object of affection's yard and very quickly sidled up to his tree. She peered up at the window again – no sign of him so far…at least not that she could tell.

'How am I going to do this…?' It wasn't like she was a tree climbing expert. In her younger days at the orphanage, Yuno had climbed some trees in the yard, but that had been years ago. She grabbed onto the lowest branch and tried to pull herself up, but the branch slipped out from her hands, giving her some painful splinters. 'Ow ow ow!' She glared at the tree.

Her next attempt was more successful, she grabbed onto the lowest branch again and sort of climbed the bark of the side of the tree, and was able to pull herself up. 'I did it!' The next branches were easy, since they were close together. She carefully pulled herself up, one after the other, until she was right next to his window. She crossed her fingers and looked in. Yes! It was his room!

Amano-kun was on his bed, his back to the window. He was huddled up in some blankets and hunched over. Overall, it was a sad sight and one Yuno hadn't really been expecting. She was expecting to see him getting ready for bed, or to already be lying down and watching TV or something. What was wrong with him? He looked so lonely – it made her heart ache to see him like that. It was all she could do not to tap on the window and try to cheer him up.

She just stayed like that, watching him for a while. But then she made the critical error of shifting on her branch and trying to move in for an even closer look. A loud snap was her only warning and before she could do anything, she found herself plummeting. She cried out in surprise – luckily another branch softened her fall before she met with the ground.

"Oof…" All the air rushed out of Yuno's lungs and she was seeing stars. To her horror, she realized there was no way Amano-kun hadn't heard that. 'Oh no!' She looked up, she could see he had come to the window and was looking down. Despite how much pain she was in, she pushed herself to her feet and half ran, half limped out of the yard. 'He saw me he saw me he saw me! I just know that he saw me…I really messed this up!' She dove back into the safety of the neighbor's bushes and peered out. A few seconds later, Amano-kun had opened up the back door and was looking around in the yard. She could faintly here him saying "What the heck was that?" He walked over to examine the broken branch.

'Ah, he didn't know it was me!' Yuno was relieved. And what was more – Amano-kun was wearing his pajamas and now she was able to get a good look at them! Quickly, she fished out her camera, turned off the flash, and snapped a few hasty pictures before he went back inside. 'This trip was a success!' He looked just as cute as she had imagined. Once he was back in and had turned off the lights in his bedroom, Yuno crawled into her own sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep. No bad dreams haunted her that night.

…Unfortunately, crawling out of the bushes the next morning wasn't exactly pleasant. Her whole body was stiff and she had some dark bruises and a lot of scratches from falling out of the tree. The splinters in her hands were throbbing too, and there was an awful pain in her right leg. But as she headed home, she wasn't sorry. Her little sleep over had been completely worth it!

A/N: For a comedy relief chapter, this was hard to write! It took me a while. Yuno is fitting into her stalker role more and more every day, but to her, it's just natural progression. It's not like she sees anything creepy or strange about what she's doing; it's only natural that she should want to be near the one she loves, right?


	10. Chapter 10

The months passed, and before Yuno knew it, it had been almost a year since she had told Amano-kun that she would become his wife. And what a busy year it had been! They hadn't actually talked since that first time – Yuno could never quite find the right words, and she had settled comfortably into her pattern of just watching him.

Despite the relationship's lack of progress, it had its intended effect – Yuno was so wrapped up in Amano-kun that she barely had time to think about her parents anymore. After all, she really had her work cut out for her! She was always silently watching him, always a few steps behind him, and when the situation called for it, she stepped in to intervene. Like, for instance, that recent incident with that Wakaba girl, who she thought for sure, was going to steal him (and with him, her future) away. Imagine, he had written her a love note when he already promised Yuno he would marry her! Thankfully, the situation rectified itself when the girl turned him down, but Yuno knew she was going to have to talk to him again soon in order to secure their relationship. It was too risky to continue the way she had been.

'But what if I talk to him, and he doesn't remember what we said that day…' Yuno was curled up in her bed with the covers pulled up over her head. It was a position she had seen Amano-kun in many times since the first time she had seen him in his room, and sitting like this made her feel closer to him. The only light in the room was the glow from her phone as she absent-mindedly scrolled through the day's diary entries. 'Or what if he does, and we start dating, and he decides he doesn't like me after all.' …She couldn't handle that. Her entire world would be shattered if something threatened her plans for the future. Amano-kun simply meant too much to her for her to lose him now.

'…But the way things are going now, another girl might take him from me before I have a chance to remind him.' Yuno set the phone down and wiped the wetness that was forming in the corner of her eyes. 'I can't let that happen. Amano-kun, please don't look at any other girl besides me. Please…'

'What should I do…?'

As luck would have it, the decision was about to be taken out of her hands by a rather unexpected event.

"My, what an interesting diary you have! So many entries, and they're all about one boy!" A voice pierced the silence in her room, causing Yuno to jump and give a startled cry. There was someone else in the room with her!

The little being had tan skin and gray hair and had a tail. She was sitting on the edge of Yuno's bed, swinging her legs and scrolling through the diary entries. "W-who are you, and what do you want?!" Yuno demanded. Was she dreaming? There was no way this could be happening; it was just too bizarre.

"Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Murmur, and I'm very glad you asked!"

A/N: Short chapter, but we're finally getting into the game!


	11. Chapter 11

Yuno found herself staring down at her phone in amazement a common occurrence now. It had been almost a week since that bizarre little being had turned up in her room, and Yuno was still expecting to wake up any moment now. And yet somehow, day after day came and went and she hadn't woken up yet. How was that possible?

_ "Whoa, whoa!" The small creature, Murmur, had exclaimed as she ducked a flying projectile, a picture frame that Yuno had hurled at her. "Relax! I'm not here to hurt you, in fact, I'm here to help you out and make your life easier."_

_ "Give me back my phone!" Yuno was terrified of the stranger in her room. Her entire body was shaking and she wanted to get away from her, and yet…she couldn't just run away. Her phone was just too important. There was no way she could leave before she got it back._

_ "Calm down! Sheesh!" Murmur gently lobbed the phone at her before Yuno could throw something else. "Take a look at it. I've made it better for you!"_

_ "What did you do to it?" Yuno hurriedly looked down at it through her entries, in case she had somehow deleted her diary or something. To her surprise, she found an entry ten minutes past the time the phone's clock was showing. It read: 'Amano-kun turns in for the night. Good night Amano-kun! I should do the same.'_

_ "…You wrote another entry? Why?" Yuno didn't understand what the girl was hoping to accomplish._

_ "I didn't. You did. It's a future diary!" Murmur said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I took your diary and made it so that you get updates from your future self. Since you already updated your diary so much, you'll get updates every ten minutes. Pretty neat, huh? Now you'll always know what that boy is up to even when you can't watch him yourself."_

_ "You're lying. Why would you do that?" If it were true, it would be pretty nice to know what Amano-kun was up to at all times, but something like that couldn't really happen. And even if it were possible, why would someone take a special interest in her and her diary?_

_ "Well, nothing I say can convince you that I'm not lying." Murmur shrugged. "Prove it for yourself when you see him next. And as for why I would do it…you'll find that out soon enough. I've gotta get going now. Enjoy your diary!"_

_ Yuno had proven it the next day, when she saw Amano-kun at school. To her surprise, all the entries that were coming up on her phone somehow came true. There was no way it could be a coincidence. She checked it again the next day and once again, the entries all came true._

Yuno had been lying in bed, staring at her phone for hours now. It was what she did every day after school, after she was done watching Amano-kun in person. She giggled to herself as she read a particularly cute update.

She still wasn't sure why this blessing was bestowed on her – Murmur said that she would find out soon enough, but so far there wasn't even a hint. Was she supposed to figure it out on her own? If so, she wasn't really doing a good job at it. Actually, in truth, Yuno didn't really care why it had happened to her. She knew she _should _be more curious about a supernatural diary being given to her, but…she was just glad had happened. Her future diary made it so much easier to keep an eye on Amano-kun.

'She said I would find out eventually. I'm not going to worry about it. Ah – he's gone to bed!' Since there wouldn't be any more interesting updates for a while, it was Yuno's bedtime too. "Goodnight, Amano-kun!"

A/N: Sorry this took so long to come out! I had some serious writer's block. I hope I got Murmur's personality down well – I tried hard with her.


	12. Chapter 12

There were a few, tiny observations Yuno made from time to time- such as the fact that sometimes, she could change Amano-kun' future. It was never anything very significant, but sometimes if she read her diary, saw he was going somewhere, and then chased after him, what was written about him would sometimes change subtly, depending on her actions. It was kind of an odd phenomena… was it because of her diary? No one had said anything about ability like that. Actually, come to think of it, that creature…Murmur, was it, had said that she would find out more later – but it hadn't happened yet. Still, Yuno didn't mind so much. It was kind of fun to discover these things on her own.

That is, until the day when it all changed.

It was an ordinary day, like any other. Class was winding down, and Yuno was keeping her eye on both Amano-kun and her diary. Unexpectedly, she heard the familiar sound of the future changing, right as the bell rang.

"That's odd. Did I do something to change the future?" She wondered. Everyone else was packing up to leave, but she hung back to check her phone. All she had been doing was sitting at her desk. Was that really enough to change anything? Or maybe she was wrong about the way the diary worked. She flipped the phone open and scanned the entries. It was all the usual…except for the one on the bottom that caught her attention.

'April 28th 18:21: Amano-kun is murdered by the street killer. How could this happen?!' The entry read. Yuno stared at it in disbelief. She read it again and again. Even though the text was written quite plainly, she was having trouble comprehending it. The street killer…? That was serial killer who had been murdering people around their school for a few days now. But why Amano-kun?

A cold feeling of dread settled into her stomach. The world had gone numb to her besides what was written in the diary. It felt like time had slowed down to an almost stand still as her eyes scanned the entry over and over. "I…I have to do anything I can to stop this." She brushed away tears she hadn't known she had shed. "I can't let this happen. We're going to get married…" The future wasn't set in stone, right? She had seen it herself – the text that was written there could still be changed. But what, exactly, could she do? Frantic, she scrambled to her feet and ran out the door, leaving her supplies behind. She would think of something on the way there.

"He's going down a back alley…" Yuno glanced at the previous entry as she ran down the street. She knew where he was going. He had been down that path before. She could take a short cut and cut him off. And then, after that…? Yuno wasn't exactly sure, but if she was with Amano-kun, she could help to protect him, or at the very least, warn him. That might make all the difference. Her diary said she would reach him at 18:08; that was encouraging, at least.

As predicted, Yuno was able to head him off at the end of the alley. It looked like he had been running…was he already being chased? Strangely, he seemed unhappy to see her.

"It's you… why are you doing this?!" He yelled, though he sounded more frightened than angry.

"Amano-kun…?" This…wasn't at all what she had expected.

"Why are you chasing me? I've never done anything to you! J-just leave me alone." He tried to run past her, but she gathered her courage and grabbed his arm. She wasn't exactly sure how he knew she had been chasing him, but he seemed to think she was trying to harm him.

"N-no, wait! Listen to me!" He tried to pull his arm away from her, but she tightened her grip.

"Stop it, I have to get away from here!"

"Amano-kun, you're in danger! There's a serial killer after you, and if you don't do something, he's going to kill you!" She said hurriedly, before he had a chance to get away from her.

At least that got him to stop pulling. Instead, he stared at her. "How did you know about that…? Do you know the serial killer?"

"No, of course not!" Yuno shook her head quickly and produced her phone. "Um…it's going to sound strange, but uh…my phone tells me the future. About you." It sounded crazy even to her own ears, but she hoped he believed her. She began to pull her phone out to show him, but it wasn't necessary.

"…You have one too?" Out of all the responses, that was probably one of the last things she thought she would hear.

"Uh, what..?" She didn't know what else to say, genuinely taken off guard. Amano fished around in his pocket and took out his own phone. He looked a little reluctant, but he showed it to her. She squinted to make out the text - there weren't any entries about him, just about his surroundings. She was mentioned (despite the seriousness of the situation, it made her a little happy to see her own name on Amano's phone) as was the serial killer. The final entry read "killed by the serial killer. Dead end."

"I'm going to be killed, unless I can get away..."

"It's okay…" Yuno didn't exactly sound sure of herself, but he looked so scared. "It will be okay, Amano-kun. I promise. You have me on your side; I won't let anything happen to you! Let's go!" Still holding onto him, she took off running. He stumbled a bit, but then began to run too.

"Where are we going?!" He shouted, trying to keep up with her.

Yuno didn't answer him, instead looking for a good hiding spot. There was a building that was still under construction close to them – that would have to do, she decided. She hurried over to the service elevator, pressed the button, and then pulled him in. She pressed the button for the roof.

"Is that really a good idea?! We're going to get trapped up there!" Amano pressed the button to open the doors, but they had already started going upwards. As the elevator moved upwards, Yuno could see outside through the glass part – there was a figure standing outside, staring up at the elevator. Amano noticed too.

"Oh great, that must be him! He knows we're here! I'm going to be killed!" He pressed a button for another floor. "I'm not going up to the roof, we should hide on one of the floors!"

Immediately, Yuno's diary made a sound. She flipped open her phone and looked at the entry. '18:20: Amano-kun dies on the 14th floor of the building.' The elevator stopped as she was reading, but she quickly hit the door-closed button before Amano could get off.

"Why did you do that?!" He shouted at her.

"It's no good. It says if you get off on that floor, you'll die! My diary tells me everything about what will happen to you, ten minutes in advance." Yuno hoped that he would be able to trust her. She just wanted to keep him safe, after all. The doors slid open once they reached the roof and she stepped out, Amano following reluctantly behind her. She looked off the side of the roof – the serial killer wasn't standing outside anymore…which meant he was coming for them.

Yuno was honestly terrified. She didn't know what to do – she didn't have any sort of plan. Her entire body was shaking. But…if it came down to it, she would die protecting Amano. She wouldn't let that man hurt him.

"We should hide so that we can ambush him. You go over there…" All around the roof was a wooden walk-way for the construction workers. "Just go over there and crouch down, and don't come out. It will be okay, Amano-kun." He nodded and ran over to where she had pointed. She went over to another side and crouched down as well. She was going to try taking the man out herself – at least it would give Amano time to escape. She heard the door squeak open and cautiously peeked over the wall. The serial killer was standing there, looking at his phone. …Was he a diary holder too?

"Where are those brats?" She could hear him muttering. It was now or never. 'I hope Amano-kun can get away…' She steeled herself, then jumped up from her hiding place and charged him. As hard as she could, she collided into him and shoved him. Unfortunately, while it was enough to surprise him, it wasn't enough to knock him off his feet. Desperately, she grabbed for his knife, but he pulled it back, out of her reach.

"You're dead." The serial killer sounded smug, wrapping his left arm around her neck and pulling her against his body. She tried to twist and claw at his arm to get away, but his grip was too tight. "Amano-kun, run! Get away from here!" So this was how it was going to end. The serial killer was raising his knife up and bringing it down on her head. The only thing Yuno could hope for now was that it would be quick.

"Hey, stop! Leave her alone!" A dart hit the blade of the knife with a clang and bounced off. Looking over, she could see that Amano had come out of his hiding spot. She wanted to yell again for him to get away, but the killer squeezed her neck tighter and she couldn't speak. "Let go of her!" Amano hurled another dart, but the man was wearing enough protection that it bounced uselessly off.

"You're annoying, kid. I'll take care of you in a second." The killer growled.

Amano inched towards them and hurled another dart. This time, it connected with the phone the killer was still carrying in his left hand. His grip went slack. Yuno wasn't entirely sure exactly what happened, but she pushed his arm away and ran over to Amano.

"W-what's going on?" Amano looked horrified. Yuno looked back over at the serial killer – the dart was stuck in his phone and he had a looked of pain on his face. But most disturbing was the way his body twisted in on itself unnaturally. He kept twisting and twisting until there was nothing left of him except for the phone itself.

Yuno felt her legs give out underneath her, due both to relief that they had both gotten out of this safely, and horror from what she had just witnessed. She wrapped her arms around herself to stop the trembling – Amano just stood there, staring blankly at where the killer had been. For a long time, both of them were too stunned to talk.

"T-thank you…" Yuno was the first to break the silence. "I was trying to save you, but…you saved me."

"Well, you were helping me…I couldn't just stand there." Amano mumbled. He walked over to her and offered her his hand. She looked up at him, a bit startled by the gesture, before quickly taking it and being pulled to her feet. "Let's get something to eat and try to forget about this…" The boy looked white as a sheet. She nodded in agreement.

"Let's go…"

A/N: Sorry for the long delay in this chapter. First, my old computer stopped working and I had to wait for a new computer. Then after I got the new computer, my dog, Coco, died and it's been a really difficult time for me, and I didn't feel much like writing. I miss him a lot.

I hope the next chapter will be out sooner than this one.


	13. Chapter 13

When Yuno thought back to the previous day, there were two thoughts which were the most prominent in her mind, and neither involved the crazed serial killer who had chased them down.

The first?

'He... held my hand...' It had been when Amano had extended his hand and wrapped it around her own to help her up, after heroically saving her. It had been warm and a bit shaky, and the tug he had given her was strong enough to get her back onto her feet, but still gentle. She kept playing that moment over and over in her mind's eye when she had returned home, and reading the entry in her diary about it. She was grateful that the diary had written about it by itself, she was too swept up in the moment and probably wouldn't have gotten it otherwise.

The second had been about the meal they shared together afterwards. Amano-kun stopped by a fast food restaurant on the way home, and they had both sat together at a small table by a window. Amano was too scared to go home until his mom returned - he didn't tell her so, but her diary did.

"You were really brave today, Amano-kun." She tried to reassure him, but he just shrugged it off. She tried to broach the subject of what he thought the diaries were for, but he didn't want to talk about it. It was a quiet meal, mostly, but even sharing a meal with him was further than she had ever gotten with him. It would definitely become one of her most treasured memories.

In the face of two very special events, was it any wonder that a serial killer out to kill them took a backseat for her?

"Still, I wonder what you're actually for." Yuno asked her diary outloud. She was very curious about it. She had thought it was something only she owned, yet Amano had one too? What were the chances? But she was happy that they shared something so unusual together. It was almost like fate was binding them together. Oh, but that serial killer had one too... and hitting it with a dart had killed him. Would her own do the same?

"Ah, I'm glad you asked that question!" A familiar voice said. Yuno yelped, startled, and jumped off her bed. A certain tiny, silver haired imp had appeared on the bed next to her.

"Murmur?!"

"Hey, you remembered my name! I'm surprised." The small girl grinned. "Well, the time's finally come to tell you guys about the diaries. We've let you have fun on your own for long enough, so just come with me."

"Where are we going?" Before Yuno knew it, both she and Murmur had been transported to a huge room. Yuno was standing on a platform, second from the left, and there were shadowed figures all around her. She had so many questions to ask, but Murmur was floating away from her, towards the figure of a rather huge creature in a throne who was making his entrance into the room.

"You must all be wondering what the meaning of this meeting is, and about the natures of your diaries. Allow me to explain..."

A/N: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, but that seemed like a natural cut off point. The next chapter will be out shortly!


	14. Chapter 14

Yuno flung herself down in her room after the meeting and started to cry uncontrollably. Though all the other players had been veiled so that she could only see their silhouettes, she already knew one other person who had a diary like her own - Amano-kun. He was competing in the game too! A game where there could only be one survivor!

Sobs wracked her body. When she had gotten her diary, she had been so happy, and even happier when she learned Amano had one too. She thought it had connected them, somehow. That fate had joined them. How silly she had been. The only way fate had joined them in was a death match, by some god who thought it would be amusing.

Why did it have to be this way? That day when the two of them stayed after class came to mind, when she had promised him that she would become his bride. He had told her "when we grow up." She had been waiting diligently for that day. That was really all she had to look forward to in her life. But now that future was gone. One or both of them would die.

"Is this my punishment?" She asked her phone, as though it would provide her with some sort of answer. Her vision was watery from tears and all she could really see was the glow of the screen. "For what I did to Mama and Papa? I thought I could have a good life after all, even with what I did... But I guess that's impossible, right? Why would someone like me get to have a future? God is punishing me..."

That creature, Deus, had been god right? He had explained the rules to them. The players (who, as far as she could tell, had no choice but to participate in the game) could change the future to kill the other players, or change their own future to keep from being killed. In the end, the winner would become god. But only one player could survive, otherwise the world would end.

Some of the other players were excited about the possibility of becoming a god. Yuno didn't care about that. She didn't even want to participate. Why should she have to do something like kill others, even her own Amano-kun? She wouldn't do it, she would not kill him, no matter what. She was going to have to talk to Deus and try to convince him to either let her or Amano-kun out of the game.

"Actually, it should be Amano-kun. He's innocent. He never did anything wrong, why should he be in this game...?" If she got killed, well... she was a girl who had killed her parents. Amano was just an ordinary boy. She didn't want him to have to go through that.

Either way, whether Deus would let him out of the game or not, she wouldn't kill him and that was that. Yuno swiped at her eyes and looked down at her diary. "Amano-kun is getting ready for bed. He seems a little anxious. Relax!" The latest entry said.

"At least something good came out of all this..." She didn't like the game, but it was what was responsible for this diary, which would watch over Amano even when she couldn't physically be with him. Reading the entries helped make her feel a little calmer. A moment later, another entry came up. "Amano-kun is wearing his pajamas. He looks so cute. I hope you have pleasant dreams Amano-kun~! 3" That made her smile - she wished she could see it herself. She hadn't seen him in his pajamas for a while.

"Maybe this isn't so bad..." Yuno thought, trying to stay optimistic. "Only one of us can survive, but with this diary I can keep him safe, if Deus won't let him drop out." Even though she wanted to remain hopeful, realistically she had a feeling that a god who had entered them into this contest without their consent probably wasn't going to let either of them leave the game alive. "At least if I protect him, my life would have amounted to something. Even if I can't...become his bride..." She started to cry again, and even reading the entries about Amano falling asleep couldn't help her this time.

"Don't worry, Amano-kun... I'll definitely make sure nothing happens to you."

A/N: I didn't feel like writing out the whole meeting with Deus, since we already know about the rules of the game. So I just skipped over it and filled in with Yuno's reaction. Fun fact, this was actually one of the first chapters I wrote! I just had to tweak it because some of the things I had written didn't fit in with the story anymore.


	15. Chapter 15

It was strange how normalcy stubbornly and unrelentingly continued, even while Yuno felt as though her life was crumbling around her. The world hadn't ended, despite her despair. The sun still came up. She still got dressed in the morning, ate her breakfast, and then made the walk to school. While she walked, she made sure to stick by the other students - who knew if there were other diary owners out there watching her now? She hated feeling so paranoid, like prey on the watch for a predator, but there was nothing she could do about that. Her diary would be totally useless if another diary owner decided to attack her, so she had to be extra vigiliant to make up for it and hope that they wouldn't attack her in plain view. Luckily, the walk to school passed uneventfully, and normalcy continued.

Yuno sat at her desk and watched the door for Amano. She kept checking her diary to make sure nothing awful had happened to him. The entries were showing that all was well and he was on his way, but she felt the tight coils of worry building up in her chest until he physically entered the classroom. Once he was in her line of vision she calmed down, but a pang of sadness replaced the worry she had been feeling moments before. She tried to focus on her schoolwork, but she couldn't help but stare at him instead. How much longer would they have peaceful days like this, just sitting in class - just normal students? For all she knew the next day, one or both of them could be dead.

'No, that's wrong. He won't die. I won't let it happen...'

After their classes ended, Yuno hurried to get outside so that she could catch up with Amano. She had wanted to walk home together with him - it was better to stick together. There was safety in numbers, after all. But he had packed up so fast and walked out, before she had even had the chance to push through the crowd of students congregating in the doorway. She ran down the hall and out the front door to catch up to him. He was already walking out the school gates. It was easy to tell that he was nervous, he kept constantly glancing around him.

"Amano-kun!" She called out to him, "Please, wait up!"

When he looked over his shoulder to see who was calling to him, he practically jumped. His pace picked up, walking more rapidly down the sidewalk. In fact, it was closer to sprinting than walking.. Was...he trying to get away from her?

"...He's scared of me." The awful realization dawned on her, "I guess it makes sense. I'm another diary owner, after all..."

It occurred to her that maybe she she should be a little more uneasy about him too. Was walking home with him really such a good idea? She hadn't even thought about that last night, when she had been so distraught over the thought of hurting him - it never occured to her that he might attack her instead. He was also a diary owner. While Yuno had promised herself that she wouldn't hurt him, he had made no such promise. If Amano wanted to kill her, it would be completely within he rules of the game. He would have the upper hand too, because she wouldn't fight back against him.

'No! No...it's not right to think like this.' Yuno shook her head, as if to clear out the nagging doubts that were invading her mind. It was miserable feeling this way - distrusting the one person who had reached out to her and made her feel like a human being again. Amano wouldn't hurt her, she had to believe that. He was too kind, she couldn't imagine him hurting anyone. Besides, the one person her diary actually was useful against was Amano. If she was wrong, and he turned on her...at least she would have a ten minute warning to escape.

"Wait! Amano-kun, please. I just want to talk to you!" Yuno bolted after him and when she caught up, grabbed onto his hand. He violently wrenched it out of her grasp and backed away.

"Stop! Leave me alone! I didn't even want to be in this game!" Amano shouted, panic clear in his voice. It was clear he was about to take off running.

"I'm not going to hurt you, so can you just relax?" She tried to reassure him. "Please, don't run away. If you're that worried about my intentions, you can take out your diary. That way you'll see if I try something, right? But I won't. I really just wanted to talk to you."

"How do I know that you don't want me to take out my diary so that you can destroy it and kill me?" His eyes narrowed suspiciously, "You were at the meeting. You heard what Deus said, and you saw yourself what happened when a diary was destroyed." It was a good point, even though that wasn't her plan at all...

"I have an idea..." Yuno fished in her pocket and pulled out her own diary, somewhat reluctantly. The more rational side of her begged her to stop, but she slowly held the phone out to him. "Here. This is basically my life, right? You can hold onto it while we walk. That way you know I won't try and kill you, and if I do, you can break it first." So much for having her warning. This was probably the stupidest idea she had ever had, but she had to believe that he wouldn't hurt her. She loved him, right? How could she claim to love him if she thought he would murder her the first chance that he got? Still, she hoped he would accept before her nerves got the better of her and she shoved the phone back into her pocket. She was getting more and more flustered by the second.

Amano looked extraordinarily uncomfortable and stared at the phone. He seemed more reluctant to take it from her than she had been to offer it, if that were possible. "...Are you really sure you want to give that to me? How do you know I won't break it just to take you out of the competition?"

"I don't know that." Yuno shrugged, managing to smile anyway, "But I trust you. You saved me on the roof the other day, right? How could I not trust you after we went through that together?"

Amano shook his head. "That was before we knew about the game, though... Things are different now. You shouldn't be so irresponsible with your life!"

"Please take it," Yuno persisted and pressed the phone into his hand, "I don't want you to be scared of me. I'm on your side. Just hold onto it while we walk, all right?"

Amano looked like he was debating between handing it back to her and keeping it. Eventually, he came to his decision - he gave a defeated sigh and slipped the phone into his pocket. Panic immediately flowed through her. She was about to ask why he had done that, but her alarm must have been visible, because he hurriedly explained, "For safe keeping. I don't want to be responsible for killing you if I accidentally drop it and break it or something..."

"Oh."

Yuno gave a surprised giggle. Out of all the things he could have been thinking about at that moment (like for instance, weighing the pros and cons of taking her out while he had the chance, or stealing her diary and blackmailing her) he was worried about accidentally dropping her phone? It was unexpected, but it was just like him to be concerned over something like that. "Well, I guess my life is in good hands then!"

Even Amano couldn't help himself - his face cracked into a sheepish smile. Yuno felt like the ice between them had been broken. Thank goodness. Offering her phone had been a good move.

"Look, I was thinking that we should work together. We already know each other and we made a great team on the roof the other day," Yuno explained. "Our diaries seem to complement each other too. Yours tells you what's going on in general, but from what I saw of it when we last met, it doesn't have any entries about you, right? Well, mine tells me what happens to you every ten minutes in the future, so if someone attacks you, I can give you a warning and you can get away, or we can fight them off together."

"Actually about that, I want to ask you something..." Amano cut in, "Why exactly does your diary give you entries about me? And...every ten minutes? I thought it was strange when you mentioned that your diary told you the future about me back when the serial killer was chasing us, but I didn't have time to ask you then. " He paused, "Didn't Deus say that our diaries were just modified diaries we were using before?"

Yuno could feel her face going bright red. She thought about lying and saying that the diary wasn't just about him, but then she realized he could just pull out her phone and see for himself if he wanted to, "W-well... um..." What could she possibly say to get out of this situation? "I...I was writing about school and my c-classmates, and uh.. I w-wrote about you a few times, and when my diary became a diary that could tell the future, the latest two entries were about you, and they were ten minutes apart, so... I guess it just so happened that the diary became completely about you." The answer came out in a rush of air. That had been some quick thinking on her part.

"Hm, really? I can't imagine what you wrote about me." Ah, he seemed to believe it! Yuno let out a relieved puff of air, "Still, it's weird that it doesn't give you updates about anyone else. I guess Deus did it on purpose since he knew we'd both be in the game. He probably thought it would be more interesting."

"Y-yeah, it is weird. It would have been more useful to me if it had mentioned other people, since I can't see who's coming after me with the way it is now..." Yuno wouldn't have changed her diary for the world, but Amano didn't need to know that.

"Oh... that's true. I guess you're at a pretty big disadvantage." He sounded genuinely sympathetic. "...Honestly, I don't know what I should do. Your diary does cover my weaknesses pretty well, but... I don't know. It doesn't seem like a good idea to team up in a game where only one of us can live. " Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his own phone and looked at it contemplatively while they walked. Or maybe he was just checking his entries? Yuno wasn't sure. They were getting close to his house though, and once they reached his driveway they stopped.

"I just don't know." Amano put a hand to his head, his tone conflicted. "...Since your diary gives you entries about me, it's probably the right move for us to work together. At least for a while. I can help you out too, since I can see entries about you on my diary. That way you wouldn't be such an easy target either."

"Really?" Yuno's eyes lit up.

"Yeah. You're right. If we stick together I think we could last longer than if we were just on our own. Here..." He handed her phone back to her.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me~" She accepted it back with a smile and a mental sigh of relief. "You won't regret your decision either. I promise I'll keep you safe no matter what." Feeling a little daring all of a sudden, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. It was his turn to go bright red.

"W-what was that for?"

She laughed without answering, then started running on ahead in the direction of her house. She turned back and waved at him.

"See you at school tomorrow, Amano-kun!" She called. He waved back shyly and hurried to get inside his house.

She was feeling better about the game already.

A/N: Yuno sure has a long way to go, huh? At this point in time, kissing Yuki on the cheek is a bold move for her! If only she could see the kiss she'll give him in the future, when she reintroduces herself to him in the second timeline.


End file.
